Farm life

Saturday Night

It’s a gorgeous summer night on the porch – 78 degrees, not much wind at all, the cicadas are pretty loud and the tall corn across the road is rustling in the breeze. There’s a pair of mourning doves always in the yard – I love their soft whoot whoot – did you know they mate for life and are always together? Very sweet! The corn is too tall to measure so I’m just going to guess 7-8 feet.

Tomorrow RAGBRAI starts in the central part of the state. For those who don’t know what those letters stand for, it’s Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. Register refers to the Des Moines Register newspaper and the ride across the state was started by two newspaper writers 46 years ago. The bicyclists start on the west side of the state, dipping their wheels into the Missouri River and ride 50-100 miles day, stopping in host towns to spend the nights until one week later when they dip their wheels in The Mississippi River along the east edge of Iowa. (No matter what I do, my IPad insists on capitalizing The. Grrrr…). People travel thousands of miles to ride in RAGBRAI! I wish I had trained to ride it when I was young – Connie rode it one year with Roy – when she was younger.

I know I can’t shut up about this orchid cactus but honestly, I have never ever seen it bloom like this!

Nothing delights me more when I’m porch sitting than seeing my chickens wander by looking for bugs or just out for a stroll.

This is Fred with Debbie, Delores, Lola and a Naked Neck girl. The young girls stay close to the barn – they have never ventured as far as the house. It they’re a busy bunch of teenage girls, running from place to place looking for bugs and if somebody finds one and chirps about it, their friends make a beeline to the spot.

Remember the black kitten that Reed named after himself? I’d been calling him Reedo Burrito and he has disappeared – for over a week now. Mama Kitty and the two girls, Darla and Danielle, are sometimes gone for a day or so but never for 10 days! I hope he comes home soon – I’m worried about him.

Yesterday it was time for Sister Act to perform at Concord where Becky and I provide music for the monthly birthday party. We do lots of old folk songs and hymns that the residents remember and we encourage everyone to sing along. A favorite is On Top of Spaghetti to the tune of On Top of Old Smokey.

Becky sang a favorite of mine Maybe Today – I get goosebumps listening to that one.

It’s been a day of housework – does this look familiar? Yup, my fridge quit cooling and after the repairman came, he suggested I manually defrost it and it would start cooling again until he came back with a sensor part. Just a word here about this very expensive KitchenAid Frig – it’s not quite 6 years old and we’ve had lots of problems with it not cooling. This is not the first time – any comments from anyone who also has a KitcheAid frig?

And remember that Disappearing Four Patch made with 30’s prints? Finally it is quilted and bound!

That’s it for Saturday night. Next week is our fair – it will be a busy few days!

46 thoughts on “Saturday Night”

I had a Kitchen Aid fridge for almost 20 years. Never any trouble, till it stopped running.

I have that basket your orchid is in. Years ago, I came to your shop on the way tot Quilt Market in Minneapolis. You had a luncheon in the loft of he barn for shop owners. It was the first time I been to Country Threads, and remember I spent probably $300 dollars there! That basket was the 1st thing I picked up. Stil have it today on my patio with ivy geraniums in it. My friend and still talk about this trip to this day!

Our fridge didn’t seem to be keeping things very cool. We bought a new one to replace it. My husband started cleaning up the old one and plugged it in outside. Wouldn’t ya know it started working?!?! Guess it just needed all the dust cleaned off the back side. UGH!! Oh well, we gave it to his sister and she was happy.

I so so wish my cereus plant would bloom, never has. Any secrets?
I grew up north of Marshalltown and my dad and brother worked at Lennox all their lives. Let me tell you, we looked around a bit there today and the damage is extensive. Lennox is really trashed as are 760 homes and businesses. The downtown was hit so hard, I’m not sure what the recovery will look like. But the miracle is that there were no deaths, given it occurred at 4:55. Mother Nature can demolish so much in a few minutes. Prayers for all affected.

Mary – years ago I had a traveling job that took me to M’town every two weeks. I stayed at the old Travel Lodge in the downtown area and I do remember the area – the pictures of the devastation are hard to believe. Oh what a job to clean it all up!
I don’t water my plant very much and I’m sure it’s pot bound by now. We’ve had quite a bit of rain and I noticed that the really tiny buds fell off when I touched them which says to me that it got too much water. Maybe fertilizer?

I don’t think Kitchen Aid is the same as it used to be. I bought a Kichen Aid blender and it leaked constantly. I contacted the company, and they sent several new pitchers. Finally about the fourth one they sent solved the problem…….for awhile. It now leaks again.

Love the pics of the chickies. . . The blooms on the night blooming cactus are very pretty, but the plant itself is kinda’ ugly!!
Was there a pattern for the disappearing 4 patch?? I don’t remember. Love it, tho’!!

Our Kitchen Aid fridge lasted just over seven years. I opened it upon returning from our cabin and water gushed out at me. It had sprung a leak and been running under the refrigerator until in foubdca low spot, and drained to the basement. Fortunately, it leaked into an unfinished section; UNFORTUNATELY, it leaked into a pile of quilts I had been collecting for a charity auction. Three quilts were impacted where red fabric bled. NEVER another Kitchen Aid. We refused to have it repaired, as over the years, parts had broken inside and it refused to accept water filters. I had always thought of Kitchen Aid as a solid, mid-range appliance. Never Again! I wonder what more damage would have been done if we had been out of town longer.

No, Mary, you didn’t have a bleeding quilt. Nancy said her refrigerator leaked on to 3 quilts that had red fabric that bled. She didn’t say what happened to the quilts. Our Quilt Guild ladies made a quilt to sell chances. After they finished they washed the quilt and the red fabric bled. Then they washed it with the dye magnet cloths and “bleed” was removed.

I wondered when your fair was going to be. I can’t wait to hear about Reed’s exhibits. I feel it’s a proud moment for you knowing you guided him with some of his projects for judging. Thank you from a former 4-H’er for guiding a young person to learn by doing.

We had an article in the Columbus Dispatch that said most appliances now last only about 7 years! Why is that? Our Whirlpool washer and dryer lasted about 20 and 25 years. We have had our side by side Whirlpool refrig since 1996. But, the ice maker in our Samsung refrig purchased in 2013 is already not working. Grrr.
Your chickens are beautiful. I hope Reedo returns soon. Maybe he found a girlfriend?

We have a frig like yours have had it two years and have had them out 5 times to fix the ice maker. They even replaced it with a new ice unit and still won’t make ice. But it is getting water because that part works. Now the freezer is frosted over all the time. I kind of gave up with the idea that they can fix it. Can’t wait to hear all about your fair. Thanks for all the updates.

Agatha – our ice maker won’t work if the filter light comes on. The guy told me today that I should just take out the filter and put it back in which will reset the filter. I don’t need the filter -and it costs $55! I think these fridges must all have problems!

We bought a new Samsung and it took 6 trips from the repair people to get the binging to stop and all working okay. Never again for that brand. Pray Reeds kitty comes home. It’s a sad thing to loose a pet. Look forward to seeing how Reeds fair entries do.

I have a Kitchen Aid refrigerator like yours have had it 10 years with no problems. Had a Kenmore before that it only lasted 1 1/2 years before it quit running and could not be repaired! Guess there are lemons in all brands.

Love all your stories and pics, I live in fort Lauderdale and miss the country. Luv the chicks running around the yard. Seems like all the new appliances now have circuit boards that to bad and is 250.00 and up to fix, give me the old stuff.

My niece, Breeze, and her bicycle team has ridden in RAGBRAI. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience!!!

Love your chickens, each one so different and probably each having a different personality. The rooster has that feeling of aristocratic about them, strutting their stuff.

WOW! Amazing how your Orchid Cactus just keeps on blooming. My home has a southern exposure, the perfect place for cactus growth – but certainly not prolific flowers. What a joy to see so many blooms!!!

I bought a Whirlpool refrigerator in 1985, but nothing fancy. Sometimes I think the more gadgets you have, the more the possibilities of failure. The only thing I’ve replaced is the seal around the door.

Do you clean the coils underneath the refrigerator regularly? They can collect a tremendous amount of dust (especially with animals in the house) and this makes the compressor work harder. The way refrigerators are made now, you can no longer get a vacuum attachment or appliance brush underneath them anymore. Our repairman suggested pulling the refrigerator out and using an air compressor nozzle to blow all dust out from underneath and off the coils. This has helped keep our refrigerator running more efficiently.

I have a Kichen Aide that’s about five years old. Has never worked right. They’ve been out many times. Gave up on the ice maker. The ice cubes taste like dirt. Now I’m having problem with it not draining with ice collecting on bottom of fridge and water leaking all over the floor. I have a call in to have them come and try to repair this issue again. Never buying this brand again.

We’re having a simliar problem with our newish GE, water freezing up under the deli drawer. Hubby utubed the problem and we can fix it with pouring boiling water down the drain,or something like that. First have to get a turkey baster to aim the water in the correct area. A pain!

You know how your eyes can see what your brain is used to? I couldn’t figure out what a fridge QUILT cooling was! Had to go back and re-read after I saw the picture of your fridge…appliances can be a pain.

Talking about Mourning Doves reminds me of my mother-in-law. She called them Rain Crows. They always start their calling before and after rain.
KitchenAid is made by Whirlpool now. The products aren’t as good anymore.

My neighbors had a problem with their refrigerator not keeping food cold enough the problem was the seal was not doing its job properly so the light was staying on all the time therefore adding heat to the refrigerator compartment

They had to call in a repairman to discover the problem and it took awhile for them to realize they had a problem as things were just not lasting as long and it was a spoty problem things near the light of course were going bad faster but a family of 6 things got moved around

It was such an odd but easy to see it happening that I just had to remember

I had to check to see what our refrigerator is – a Kitchen Aid! We’ve had it for quite a few years. Our stove is also a Kitchen Aid. I do need to clean the coils. I suppose after writing this both of them will go on the fritz. Your chickens look very content. We have a new gray and white stray. He won’t let me get near him. I put some food out for him tonight. Hope you have a good day tomorrow.